Siege of Bisbee
The Siege of Bisbee was a battle for control over the city of Bisbee in Arizona during the NCR Arizona Offensive. The siege was carried out days after the Siege of Nogales by the New California Republic and the Republic of Arizona, who deployed their own forces for the first time in the entire campaign, with support from the Union of the Ute and Navajo Nations and the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. The goal was the capture of the town from Caesar's Legion and help pave a way to Douglas and secure all of Southern Arizona. The siege lasted a week and the town was captured along with many nearby regions. Background Following the capture of Nogales, the NCR and its allies in the New Vegas Union now had a clear path towards Southern Arizona and the former pre-war border with Northern Mexico, the latter of which was organized as the North Mexican Provinces by the Legion. The provinces were used by the Legion to send reinforcements up to secure Arizona, but suffered heavy casualties due to lower quality troops of the Mexican Legion as well as intensifying resistance from post-war Mexican rebel factions which provided the NCR and NVU an opportunity to strike and secure all of Arizona, something the self-proclaimed republic sought throughout the campaign. With Nogales now secured, Bisbee and Douglas were now next with Bisbee being the first target to be captured by the NCR's 7th Infantry Division which was to fight alongside the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Republic of Arizona Army. Both units mustered up 5,600 combined soldiers which was supported by 428 guerillas of the UNU Army and 128 armored units of the Mojave Brotherhood of Steel. The Legion had only 5,000 soldiers stationed in Bisbee and much of the force was stationed in the nearby hills and mountains which offered better protection than the small city they were going to defend. Bombing Runs The siege first began when NCR and Arizonan artillery crews set up positions and targeted various Legion positions around Bisbee and close to the fringe parts of the city's suburbs. The artillery, which consisted of various 155mm howitzers and other similiar type of artillery cannons and pices, fired on Legion positions and managed to take out much of their artillery, especially in the south where most of it was destroyed and all surviving pieces were captured during the first phase of the battle. Within the first three hours of the battle, up to 232 Legion soldiers were killed with only 14 allied casualties from Legion mortar attacks, which were dealt with by Arizonan infantry supported by NCR snipers. By the fourth hour of the battle, NCR troops had entered into the suburbs of Bisbee and captured many buildings in the southern part of the town, including many shops and stores, which were used to defend against Legion counter-attacks. The Legion organized a force fo multiple low-ranking soldiers supported only by technicals and makeshift armored cars and tanks. The NCR brought in its armor, mainly refurbished M4 Shermans and M60 Patton tanks, and defeated the Legion armor with support from troops of the Arizonan Armored Crops armed with refurbished tanks that surpassed the Legion's. By the end of the first two days, the southern parts of Bisbee were captured. Legion Counter-Attack With the NCR having taken the city south part of the city, located out side of the ring of mountains that protected central Bisbee, the Legion planned a counterattack with the hope of causing severe NCR casualties and cutting off their access to the city. The plan hinged around the only road between the southern part of Bisbee and the center of the city, with was located between a massive pre-war open pit mine to the south and the mountains to the north. In the days prior to the battle, Legion forces had placed large explosive charges on the walls of the pit beneath the road. As NCR armored vehicles advanced across the road on the edge of the pit, the Legion detonated the charges, setting of an explosion which collapsed the road, causing two NCR tanks and four APCs, as well as about 50 personnel to fall into the 900 foot deep pit. After the explosion of the charges, about 500 Legion infantry charged down from the mountainsides, hoping to push back the NCR forces. While a few of the better-armed Legionaries with rocket launchers and mortars destroyed a few vehicles, and a caused about 40 additional casualties, the much better armed NCR and Arizonan forces pushed them back within five minutes of fighting, killing over 200 Legionaries in the engagement. While the counterattack was unsuccessful and generally considered to be a poor decision on the part Alcmena of Bisbee, who no experience fighting highly organized and well-equipped adversaries such as the NCR, the destruction of the road had achieved its goal of preventing the NCR from entering Bisbee from the south and executing a pincer maneuver, allowing the Legion to focus their defenses on the north side of town. The Northern Assault As the Southern force assaulted the south side of the city, a northern force of NCR and Brotherhood infantry and armored forces, advanced down the pre-war Highways 80 and 90 moving southeast into the mountains that surrounded Bisbee. At a distance of about a kilometer from the mountains, the surviving Legion artillery opened up. As most of the gunners were not trained in indirect fire, the Legion ballistarii waited until at very close range to fire their weapons. Three NCR tanks and seven other vehicles were knocked out by the Legion guns, however, the Legion gunners soon found themselves under fire from multiple NCR tanks and armored vehicles, and the guns were quickly silenced. With the armor providing support, the infantry advanced on the Legion positions on the lower slopes, a platoon of Brotherhood of Steel power armor units leading the assault, proving suppressing fire with miniguns and energy weapons. By 0900 hours, the NCR and Brotherhood troops has taken Legion positions on the mountain slopes and secured the crossroads of Highway 80 and 90. Beyond the crossroads, however, the road was flanked on both sides by mountain slopes the held Legion positions, guarding the chokepoint. Beyond this point, tanks would be useful only for direct fire artillery, lacking the room to properly maneuver. The first objective were two low foothills on the flanks of a higher mountain to the north of the road, as well a route up the flanks of a mountain to the south. In a small valley to the north of the road, the Legion had placed several of their few remaining armored vehicles in defensive positions. As infantry advanced on the Legion positions, two NCR M56 Main Battle Tanks cautiously advanced along the round until reaching a position where they could engage the Legion armor. A Legion-controlled tank got off a shot which bounced off the heavy frontal armor of the lead M56, only for the vehicle to retaliate with its main gun, destroying the vehicle. Within a few minutes, the NCR tanks, as well as Brotherhood ATGM crews attacking from the flanks has knocked out the Legion armor, freeing up the tanks to fire on Legion positions in the mountains, supporting the infantry advance. Even with the support, the Legion troops stubbornly held on to their positions, firing down on the advancing infantry from concealed positions. Over 40 allied infantry were killed, including two Brotherhood power armor operators hit by fire from a .50 caliber sniper rifle. By 0800 hours, however, the NCR and Brotherhood forces had cleared the first mountaintops along the road leading into Bisbee from the west. Over the next few hours the NCR and Allied forces advance slowly, but steadily, pushing back the Legion defenders, with Brotherhood of Steel power armor and NCR Rangers and First Recon leading the attack on the mountaintops, while NCR armored vehicle led the assault along the highway. While the Legion were outnumbered and outgunned, many Legion troops, particularly on the mountain tops put up a fierce resistance, with a unit of Legion snipers and mortars on the opposite of a canyon that cut through the ridge north of the highway holding up the NCR advance for more than an hour until a pair of NCR F-80s bombed the area. Along with artillery fire, this finally forced the Legion defenders to retreat, allowing the NCR to cross the canyon by about 1000 hours. The south mountain ridge fell more quickly than that north of the highway, especially after NCR infantry, supported by fire from tanks and artillery, having cleared the southern suburbs of Bisbee, reached the southernmost summit in the mountains that surrounded most of the city, taking the summit at around 1230 hours. With the destruction of the road around the open pit mine south of the city at around 1300 hours, many NCR infantry and armored assets were redeployed to attack the mountains from the south. At 1430 hours, Mount Ballard, a prominent peak south of Bisbee was in NCR hands, and by 1600 hours, the mountains south of town were mostly clear of Legion forces. The Legion on the northern ridge put up a heavier resistance, slowing the advance of NCR armor along Highway 90 towards Mule Pass. The main fortifications in the area were a number of Legion mortar and machine gun nests on a summit near the mountain that held a pre-war radio tower. The tower was targetted by NCR and Arizona aircraft and artillery, since the start of the battle, but the Legion defenders stubbornly held on to the position. The first attack was launched at around 1130 hours, by which point the NCR and Arizonans had finally gotten enough infantry across the canyon to the west to attack. The NCR and allied troops suffered over 30 KIA and 50 wounded in the attack, but the besieged Legion defenders were running low on ammunition. As the NCR and allied troops advanced uphill, the Legion defenders charged, leading to a brutal close-in melee on the forested mountainside. The radio tower was finally taken at about 1200 hours. As the radio tower fell, the Legion detonated explosives in the tunnel through Mule Pass, leading into Bisbee, blocking the road into town. It would take until about 2000 hours until the last Legion remnants were cleared for Mule Pass, with those not killed or captured retreating either into Bisbee or into the mountains to the north of Highway 90. Fighting in the City Center Assaulting the Mountains Aftermath Category:Battles Category:Events